In an age of great emphasis on youth and beauty, hair loss has become a major concern. Indeed, some sort of baldness (alopecia) affects a significant percentage of the total male population. Some women also experience thinning of the hair as they age, although baldness in women is rare. Male pattern baldness is the most common form of baldness, and begins with hair loss from the vertex and the frontoparietal regions of the scalp, ultimately leaving only a sparse peripheral rim of scalp hair. A hair follicle is a tube-like opening into the epidermis where a hair develops, and a hair root is the part of a hair that is embedded in the hair follicle. In affected areas, the hair follicles produce finer and lighter terminal hairs until terminal hair production ceases.
The cause of male pattern baldness is unknown. However, it is theorized that male pattern baldness may be caused by a combination of factors that include, for example, the vascular composition of the individual, the physical structure of an individual's scalp, aging, and the male characteristic hormone, testosterone. In other words, poor blood circulation in the scalp, non-elasticity of the scalp tissue resulting from increased cross-linkage of connective tissue, loss of skin elasticity due to aging, and testosterone play a role in male pattern baldness. This combination of factors is believed to cause the hair follicles to shorten and cease to produce hair.
In response to the distress of those suffering from male pattern baldness, a multitude of treatments have been devised in an attempt to stop and/or reverse the process of hair loss. These treatments include medications, hair transplants, scalp exercise, low voltage electrical stimulation, and so forth. Although many have claimed to have solved the problem, in whole or in part, there has yet to be found a definitive solution that will truly reverse the process of hair loss.
One technique that has met with limited success is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,387. The '387 patent discloses a method and device for applying low voltage electrical stimulation to the skin layers of the scalp coupled with massage. The device is configured to generate numerous square wave voltage waveforms, each of a different frequency. These are turned on and off at various intervals, to yield a continuously varying signal. The combined use of low voltage electrical stimulation and massage is believed to loosen the skin layers and connective tissue in the scalp. The treatment has resulted in the retardation of hair loss for some, and has resulted in the rejuvenation of hair growth in others.
Unfortunately, there are some problems associated with the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,387. For example, the device of the '387 patent has a fixed hardware structure. In such a fixed hardware structure, it is not feasible to update the signal characteristics, for example, the frequencies, voltages, waveform shape, and so forth without incurring significant hardware redesign and rebuild.
The rise time (or fall time) of a waveform is the time required to change from one level to another, for example, to rise from ten percent of its peak value to ninety percent of its peak value, and vice versa. It is believed that in the fixed hardware structure described in the '387 patent, the rise time and fall time of the generated square waves is undesirably slow. This results in a less than optimum therapeutic signal and less effective treatment.
It is believed that administration of the treatment is enhanced by a perceived “operator feel.” That is, an operator must be trained to experience a physical sense of increased resistance to the massaging action in the region of taut skin and dense connective tissue. When stimulated by electricity, this physical sense of increased resistance is enhanced. It is theorized that the electrical impulse stimulation causes tightening of the connective tissue in those areas where the skin layers are already tight. Accordingly, through the use of electricity, an operator can feel a more noticeable resistance to skin movement in the tight regions. Treatment can then be focused on the tight regions, thereby speeding up the effectiveness of the treatment. Unfortunately, through the use of the device of the '387 patent, this physical sensation is not as frequently experienced as desired, resulting in undesirably lengthy operator training and/or less effective treatments.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved apparatus capable of generating an optimal therapeutic signal for the electrical stimulation of human tissue.